WEBVTT RICK: A PAROLE BOARD ORDEREDDONOVAN HARRIS TO COMPLETE HISSENTENCE.LAUREN ADAMS JOINS US WITH MORE.REPORTER: IT WAS ONE WEEK AGOWHEN THE PARENTS OF MARY BYRONWENT BEFORE THE PAROLE BOARD,PLEADING TO KEEP THEIR DAUGHTERSKILLER BEHIND BARS.HER MOTHER SAYS SHE HAD A GOODFEELING.SHE WAS RIGHT.>> I'M JUST GLAD THAT IT'S OVERWITH, SETTLED, DONE.REPORTER: NOT LONG AFTERSTARTING HER DAY WITH PRAYER PAT, BYRON'S PHONE RANG.AND THAT'S WHEN SHE LEARNED HERDAUGHTER'S KILLER WOULD SPENDTHE REST OF HIS LIFE BEHINDBARS.ON MONDAY, THE STATE PAROLEBOARD ORDERED DONOVAN HARRIS NOW47, TO SERVE OUT HIS LIFESENTENCE FOR THE 1993 MURDER OFPAT'S DAUGHTER, MARY.THIS MEANS THAT HE STAYS INFOREVER.SHE SAID, YES.REPORTER: IT IS THE SECOND TIMEPAROLE HAS BEEN DENIED FORHARRIS AND WITH HIS APPEALS, EXHAUSTED, HARRIS WILL NEVERBE ABLE TO ASK FOR PAROLE AGAIN.THIS TIME LAST WEEK, FAMILY HADFACED THE POSSIBILITY DONOVANHARRIS COULD BE A FREE MAN.NEARLY 24 YEARS AGO, HE MURDEREDMARY ON NURSE 21ST -- ON HER21ST BIRTHDAY AS SHE WAS LEAVINGWORK AT MALL ST. MATTHEW'S.IT WAS THE VERY NIGHT HE WASRELEASED FROM JAIL AFTER APREVIOUS ATTACK ON MARY, HISEX-GIRLFRIEND.UNAWARE HE HAD BEEN RELEASED,MARY BYRON'S DEATH RESULTED INVINE, A VICTIM NOTIFICATIONSYSTEM HER PARENTS WERE THEDRIVING FORCE BEHIND IT.>> HE TOOK MY DAUGHTER FROM ME.HE WASN'T GOING TO TAKE THE RESTOF MY LIFE.THAT'S HOW I LOOK AT IT.REPORTER: PAT BYRON SAYS SHE ANDHER HUSBAND JOHN WILL DEDICATETHE REST OF THEIR LIVES TO 'THEMARY BYRON PROJECT', WHILEDONOVAN HARRIS SPENDS THE RESTOF HIS BEHIND BARS.AND FOR THAT, SHE SAYS SHE WILLBE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO THEPAROLE BOARD.>> IT'S A SMALL WORD, BUT THAT'SALL I CAN SAY, THANK YOU.REPORTER: LAST TUESDAY WHENHARRISON AT THE PAROLE BOARD, HEEXPRESSED WHAT SEEMED LIKEREMORSE, SAYING HE WAS SORRY ANDTHAT MARY DIDN'T DESERVE WHATHAPPENED TO HER.BUT PAT AND JOHN BYRON TOLD METODAY THEY HAVE NEVER ONCE BEENCONTACTED BY HARRIS FOR SOMESORT OF APOLOGY.AND THEY SAY, THEY DON'T WANTIT.

She said she received a phone call from a spokesperson with the Kentucky Department of Corrections Monday morning, notifying her of the board's decision.

"I said, 'This means he stays in forever?' And she said yes," Pat Byron recalled.

Her daughter, Mary Byron, was killed in December of 1993, on her 21st birthday. She had just ended her shift at the JCPenney Salon and had made it to her car when she was attacked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in the parking lot of Mall St. Matthews. Harris had been behind bars for raping and assaulting her, but someone posted his bail that night. Byron had no idea he had been released until the last terrifying moments of her life.

Mary Byron's death resulted in VINE, a victim notification system, now used in 48 states. Pat and her husband, John, were the driving force behind that system.

"He took my daughter from me, he wasn't going to take the rest of my life. That's how I look at it," she said of her work with The Mary Byron Project.

She said Monday she and her husband would continue dedicating the rest of their lives to the foundation, while Harris spends the rest of his behind bars.

Byron said she was grateful for the support the family has received, and the decision of the parole board.

"It's a small word, but that's all I can say is thank you," she said.

Harris will serve out the remainder of his sentence at the Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange.